Stress therapy to improve my bill-paying job and my writing. *Shrug* Some times whining leads to profound ideas. Also known online as KLCtheBookWorm.

Saturday, April 02, 2011

Rizzo is sick again

I finally got home after 9pm last night. And this morning Mustard blinked at the empty driveway and was confused about going outside when it didn't look right.

Left work at 4:30, after a day that ended up being more blah than good. Interstate traffic had thinned out, so I took that route. I had just passed the I-12/I-10 split when my engine gave a little jolt, power steering went away, and the car decelerated quickly. The engine malfunction indicator light popped on and then the low oil pressure light came on. I got the car to the side between the overpasses getting traffic on and off I-10.

Called roadside assistance, then called my parents, then it was a sit and wait. The M.A.P. patrol van finally found me at 5:30-ish. My parents found me by 6, by 6:20-ish, the tow truck finally reached me. Me and my parents then found the mechanics that my roadside assistance recommended who had already closed for the day, and waited for the tow truck. He was a sweet guy, but we didn't get the car dropped off until after 7:30. Supper at IHOP and then home finally after 9:30-ish.

I haven't heard from the mechanics yet, but they just opened an hour ago. I have a phone number, but I'm going to give them a little bit. Plus I just woke up really.

What I'm dreading is my parents to do the sit-down-for-the-facts-of-life talk and to tell me it's time to get a new vehicle. Rizzo still isn't paid off and I'm terrified with a trade-in I will be horrifically upside down with a new car. I want to pay off a car and continue to drive it until I can pay cash for a new-to-me one just once in my adult life!

Midday update: The mechanics called me soon after I posted. The timing belt broke and it will cost $791.29 to fix. I mostly worked it out with my parents and they left to take my grandfather on a trip to Mississippi. And locked their house up tight.

I'm right next door. Without a car.

They left their second car, but the keys are inside their locked-up house. And who has been living next door for eleven years come August and STILL hasn't been given a set of keys to their house for emergencies?

1 comment:

I know my commiseration won't make anything better, but you have it anyway. Cars have been a pain in my ass for a long time, too. My girlfriend, Kali, is worried that hers is about to fall apart. Strange sounds, nearly dying when idle, that sort of thing.

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About Me

Struggling writer who spends far too much time doing non-writing things. Examples: maintaining two websites (The BookWorm's Library and Alt. Biker Mice Site), the job that pays the bills, and working on my English Masters. I write and read science fiction, mystery, fantasy, supernatural/horror, and historical fiction. But with a personal library of over 800 titles, I have too many favorite books to list!